The Midnight Strider (The Chronomancer Chronicles Book 2)

by Reilyn J. Hardy

“You’re really not going?” I ask, giving up with the tie. I toss it on the bed as I turn around. He doesn’t pay much attention to me.

  “I don’t see the point,” he says. “It’s a wedding. You heard my dad, we have bigger things to worry about.”

  I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me too. The picture of the newspaper keeps flashing in my mind.

  “It’s one night, Jace.”

  “I don’t want to go.”

  “You know,” I say as I walk toward the bedroom door. “Marisol may have been the one tying to kill her and all, but you’re the one who’s hurting her.”

  “It’s a stupid wedding,” he says. He catches the rock and sits up, glaring at me.

  “It’s not about the wedding.”

  I go downstairs to find Apollo circling Vihaan, who’s sitting beside Tanare, relaxed. “You’re the dragon?” my brother asks, and the corner of Vihaan’s mouth twitches.

  “Last time I checked,” he says.

  “Well, you’re not very big.”

  “Humans are not very big.” Vihaan stands up and Apollo takes a step back, looking up at him. Vihaan towered over us. “But in my human form, I think I am fairly decent in size. Don't you?”

  “It’s good to see you,” I tell him, stepping beside Apollo.

  “You too, kid,” he says, his turquoise eyes are piercing. “I’m glad you both made it out — and that Rhiannon’s okay.”

  “You heard about that?”

  “Miko’s very excitable,” he says.

  “So you know everything that’s happened?” I ask.

  “Is there something you need to tell me?”

  Bells begin to sound and I let out a sigh in relief. If he doesn’t know, I don’t want to be the one to tell him that I let the Grim Reaper out.

  It’s time for a wedding.

  Today isn’t a day for worrying about the Grim Reaper, or the munfolk town that got killed. Today two people who love each other are going to get married; it’s supposed to be a happy day. Worry free, guilt free.

  I walk beside Rhiannon as we head toward the small chapel. It sits where the lake begins from the hill and the forest, away from most of the town that resides on it’s surface. It seems to be the only building in town not made of wood. I have never been to a wedding before, and they seem like a lot of trouble. Not to mention costs.

  I’m happy for Coin though; he deserves to be happy.

  The reception is held in The Wet Fish. It’s cleaner tonight, even the barrels of dead fish at the door have been cleaned out and emptied.

  I sit down beside Rhiannon, who’s chewing on her bottom lip as she twirls her fork between her index and middle finger. “He’s not coming, is he.”

  I open my mouth to argue, but nothing comes out. I have nothing to say. “I don’t think so.”

  Coin has our little group sitting together, and dinner seems to come and go with still no sign of Jace. The bride and groom take the dance floor first, and soon others join them; nearly all from our table.

  Rhiannon stares blankly at Jace’s placeholder before grabbing it and ripping it up.

  I nudge her.

  “What?” she snaps.

  “Look up,” I say.

  She does. Jace is standing on the other side of the pub. His white collared shirt is only half buttoned, and his hair messily hangs around his face.

  Rhiannon doesn’t go up to him. Instead, she frowns and looks down as he approaches us.

  “Will you dance with me?” he asks, standing beside Rhiannon. He extends his hand to her.

  “No.” She doesn't even look at him.

  “Please, Rhi?”

  “It’s Rhiannon,” she corrects him as she looks up at him. He tucks his hair behind his ear. She then looks at his hand and finally takes it within hers.

  “They’re so stubborn,” Amelia says as she plops down beside me.

  “I thought you left.”

  “And miss a chance at getting cake? I don’t think so. But I am leaving in the morning. Are you gonna be a good boy?” she asks me.

  “No,” I say with a smile.

  She rolls her eyes before nodding toward Jace and Rhiannon.

  I look back at them just as he kisses her. But she pulls away quickly, backing away from him. Her hand covers her face.

  We both get up from our seats.

  Her mouth is burning like acid had been poured onto her face. She pushes him away from her and gasps for air while the skin around her mouth and neck begin to rot away. She starts to drop to the ground and Jace catches her.

  I run toward them while searching the crowds for my brother. But he didn’t come.

  “Apollo!” I shout, and he rushes in through the front door likely sensing her in danger again, “can you —”

  “Yeah,” he says before I can finish my sentence.

  He moves toward them and at first, Jace doesn’t want to let her go.

  “It’s okay,” Apollo tells him. He nods, though slowly and not without hesitation.

  Jace slowly gets to his feet.

  “What the hell happened?” I ask him, trying to raise my voice above the noise, but soft enough so that we don’t draw attention to ourselves and disturb the reception. “Your dad kicked you out of the pack, I thought things were gonna go back to the way they were before?”

  Kina steps forward, her eyes are glistening from the light of the candlesticks. She doesn’t speak though, she just stares at Jace; her eyes are wider than I’ve ever seen.

  “What did you do?” Jace asks.

  “After you went in side —” her breathing gets rough, “Dad told me to make a choice. Either go home — or — or — or stay here with you.”

  Jace closes his eyes. “And you chose to stay.”

  She starts to cry. “I didn’t know, Jace. I didn’t know that would make you a pack alpha. I’m sorry. I’m sorry —”

  Jace walks toward Kina and pulls her into a hug.

  “I just wanted to stay.”

  “It’s okay, Kina,” he says, brushing his hand against her hair as she cries. “It’s okay.” He glances at me and he sighs.

  “She’s going to be okay,” Apollo says, helping Rhiannon to her feet. Kina pulls away from Jace and tackles Rhiannon, nearly knocking her over.

  “I’m sorry!” she tells her, Rhiannon knits her eyebrows together as she looks at each of us over Kina’s shoulder. “I’ll go back to my dad and I’ll —”

  “No,” Rhiannon says, squeezing Kina tightly. “You’re staying here.” She steps back and gently grabs Kina’s arms. “We want you here. This is just —” she looks at Jace, “— we’ll figure out.”

  He nods and turns away, grabbing a bottle off a cart as he leaves the pub.

  Rhiannon turns back to Kina and gently wipes her face with her thumbs. “Don’t cry,” she says softly. “You look so pretty and if you keep crying, I’m gonna start crying — and it’s not a pretty sight. Come here,” she says, and hugs her again.

  There’s a reality staring us in the face that we’re going to have to accept. Jace is a pack alpha now. That made him lethal. He could kill Rhiannon.

  Sighing, I go out after him.

  I find him off in the woods, alone. There’s a bottle of bourbon in his hands, but I suspect it’s empty now.

  “I just wanted to be free from my dad,” he says. “Now I lost her.”

  I sit down on the log beside him.

  This forest isn’t alive like the Woodlands, but the leaves falling on the ground make it seem like we aren’t the only mobile beings here.

  “There are other ways to show your love for someone than just —” I clear my throat. “You know.” He nods, he seems to understand. “And what, you’re not gonna go near her now?”

  “I can’t,” he says. “What if I hurt her ag
ain? Worse, what if I kill her?”

  “You won’t.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  I slide off of the log and onto the ground, pressing my back up against the bark.

  “When we first left Newacre, I left with a wolf who could hardly control his temper. Who lost it because he was protective of his friend, and he still believed he was a good person, despite nearly beating someone to death. I agreed with him then, I still do.” I look up at him. “Kina, she wouldn’t have chosen to follow you if you weren’t a good person, Jace, and you love Rhiannon. You’ll figure out how to show her. I know you, and I know you will.” I fumble with the cuff of my sleeve. “Caring about people has never been easy. It’s not going to suddenly start now. By nature, you two are supposed to hate each other. I guess we should have known it wasn’t going to turn out the way we wanted.”

  “We?”

  “Yes, we. We’ve all seen the way you look at her, and really, most of us are wondering what took you so long.”

  “Pride, I guess.”

  “Scared to show that you actually have feelings for someone?”

  “Something like that,” he says. “I mean, it is frightening, you know? When you care about someone, you give them power, and you trust them not to hurt you with it. It’s the same thing with friends.”

  Yeah, it is.

  He turns to me. “You’re the Time Traveler,” he says. “Do you know how to control it yet?”

  I shrug. “For the most part. I’m not too great yet with specific times though, why? Jace — I’m not gonna stop Kina from staying. You saw her, I can’t —”

  He shakes his head. “No, I don’t mean that. I wanna show you something.”

  “What?”

  “My time with Rhiannon,” he says. “I know you’ve been curious, about her taking care of me and I think I’m ready to share. I did tell you it was for another time.”

  He gets up, so I do too.

  “So how does it work?” he asks, dropping the bottle on the ground. My mom isn’t going to like that.

  “Think about the time,” I say, pulling out my Heliosi from my pocket. I look over at him. “Are you ready?” I ask, and he nods. I spin the center dial, and our surroundings spin with it while we remain still, a separation from the world around us. This way has been easier than what I had been managing, not that I knew what I was doing.

  The forest around us spins right into Thealey. The town is in flames, we just missed the massacre. It's deserted, aside from a blonde woman peering beneath one of the houses. There’s a decapitated vampire laying at her feet, slowly disappearing.

  She has an apple in her hand, holding it out. “Did she hurt you? Are you okay?”

  I look over at Jace and he nods at me. It’s Rhiannon.

  A young boy peers out from beneath the raised foundation of the house, before slowly crawling out. He still looks the same.

  “Let’s go a little further ahead,” Jace says to me.

  I turn the dial slowly.

  We’re in an old, abandoned home now. I move to the window and notice we’re standing in the mansion Rhiannon first came out of. Thunder roars ahead, and crying forces me to turn around. Young Jace is sitting in her lap with his hands covering his ears. Her arms are wrapped around him, and her chin rests gently against the top of his head.

  “See that?” he asks.

  “What?”

  He points to Rhiannon.

  “She squeezes her eyes tighter every time thunder comes,” he says. Thunder roars overhead again, and she does just what he said. Only this time, a tear rolls down her cheek. Jace taps his thumb against his leg, staring at her and his younger self. “She was scared too, and all she cared about was making sure I felt safe. I didn’t even notice till the storm in Nevressea.” He turns away. “Further,” he says.

  I turn the dial again.

  We remain in the house, but they fade from sight.

  A window breaks, and I turn around. I recognize the two vampires who are now standing in the house with us. Faustine and Malachi.

  “Rhi-annonnnn,” Faustine says, dragging out his words in a teasingly singsong voice. “We know you’re heeeee-reeee.” His tone drops half way through the word.

  “We know what you’re hiding,” the other adds, mimicking him.

  Jace looks at me and points at the ground.

  They were beneath us. He leads me down to the basement, down a stairway hidden behind a bookcase. The two of them are sitting in the dark. Jace’s eyes are red and watery. Rhiannon’s hand is covering his mouth, and her finger pressed to her own lips, telling him to be quiet.

  “This is why I left,” he tells me. “Look at her face — look at her hands — she’s trembling. The whole time I was with her, she was in constant fear. For years. Now she’s gonna be in constant fear around me.” He crosses his arms and leans against the wall. “You know what I have to do, right?”

  I don’t know where this is going. I shake my head.

  “I have to go back to my dad.”

  “You’re not serious…” I run my finger along the dial and hit it gently with my finger. It spins until we’re back in the forest. He’s leaning up against a tree now. “Jace, there are so many ways you can show that you love someone. Like you said in Newacre, you weren’t with those girls because you liked them or had any feelings for them. You don’t need to do that... with someone to show them you love them. Just try.”

  “If something bad happens?”

  “Who’s being the negative one now?” I cross my arms and raise an eyebrow. He just shakes his head. Jace starts gathering his hair and ties it up in a knot on top of his head.

  “I’ll give it a shot,” he says.

  “That’s all anyone can ask,” I say. “Plus, with Apollo around, she’ll be fine.”

  “I don’t exactly want a chaperone.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” I say. “But he knows how to heal her. It’ll be useful. In case you get too — you know — you.”

  “Thanks,” he says sarcastically.

  We go back to the reception, but I have trouble really paying attention to my surroundings. Despite saying he’ll try, Jace hasn’t gone near Rhiannon since we came back inside. She’s with Kina and Miko, who are laughing and dancing with each other, while Rhiannon giggles at the two of them.

  We’re sitting at the table and Jace hasn’t taken his eyes off of her since we sat down. “How can you look at her and not want to kiss her? She's beautiful.”

  “Don’t look at her lips?” I suggest.

  Jace glares at me. “Thanks, very helpful.”

  “Well, personally I think kissing is disgusting. I mean, swapping germs with someone else isn’t exactly my idea of a good time.”

  “Have you even kissed anyone?” Benny asks me.

  I glance at Nadia. “Whether I have or haven’t doesn’t make my opinion any less valid.” I catch sight of Nova and frown, staring at the stockstill around his neck. I get up suddenly, accidentally knocking the table in front of me. “I have an idea,” I say. Jace starts to get up too but I shake my head. “No, stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  “You gonna get yourself into trouble again?”

  “Of course not,” I say, and leave before any of them can say another word.

  I stand out on the bridge, overlooking the lake, and I close my eyes. Focus.

  “Yes?” A voice comes from beside me.

  I open my eyes and see Caliswen standing there.

  “Can you fix it?” I ask. “You said it yourself, Rhiannon is a good person. Can you change Jace so he’s no longer a pack alpha?”

  “They’re both good people, yes, but that doesn’t mean they should be together.”

  “Why?” I ask. “Because of what they are? Because of what they had no say in being? Because of what th
ey can’t change about themselves? That’s not fair.”

  “Life isn’t fair,” she says.

  “Are you ser —” I turn away from her for a second. A frown etches itself onto my face and I turn back to her. “You want to know what isn’t fair? Being created just to be sacrificed.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You and Alekoth. You created me and Apollo to clean this all up. You two aren’t parents, you’ve never been parents. Apollo was right. At least Dad tried, he did a poor job but he tried. Where were you?”

  “I told you, I’ve always been —”

  “THAT DOESN’T COUNT!” I clutch onto the railing hard, that my nails begin to dig into the wood. I take a deep breath and try to relax myself. “For so long, I blamed him. But he was the one who stayed, he was the one who tried. The one who made an effort. The one who dealt with every problem I had, who kept me from hurting myself. Tried his best to keep me safe. He tried, and you watched.” I shake my head. “You’re Mother Nature, but you don’t know the first thing about being a mother, do you?”

  She clenches her jaw.

  “Sorry I asked for your help,” I say, and turn back to face the lake. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her fade into the wind. I turn my head and I see Jace standing in the doorway of The Wet Fish. He starts walking toward me when he see that I saw him.

  “Thanks for trying.” He leans against the rail beside me.

  “She helped me with Nova, I thought maybe she’d help me with this too.”

  He shakes his head. “I’m gonna try it your way,” he says, nodding his head toward the pub. “Come on.”

  I follow him back inside and he makes a beeline for Rhiannon as I return to the table. Miko’s clawing at the table with her hook. I tap the table and she looks up at me. I nod toward Jace and Rhiannon and she turns around.

  He extends his hand to her. “Will you dance with me?” he asks. Rhiannon’s gaze falls to his hand before meeting his as she looks back up. Her lips part slightly.

  “Really?”

  “Say yes!” Miko yells. Rhiannon widens her eyes as she looks at us and Jace laughs.

  “For once, I agree with her,” he says. Rhiannon presses her lips together, trying to suppress a smile and she takes his hand.